Hereīs an small Interview with Guitarplayer/Songwriter :Bjorn Stigsson (ex.LEVITICUS & XT)
Hello Bjorn ! Can you please start with telling us,what you are doing now a-days !!!
Iīve been working as a Producer for the last 5 years together with Andreas Rickstrand ! We call ourselves "Rico & Bear" (Bjorn means Bear in english-Editor)and we have been Producing/Remixing and writing songs,for several different labels & artists ! In several different Music styles.....anything from Dance/Pop to R&B.We are right now busy with A-TEENīS(ex.Abba Teens-Editor) Christmas single (Stockholm Records) And we have been doing remixes for "E-TYPE, Solid Base,Sonic Dream,CHARLOTTE-Take me to your heaven (The 1999 Eurovision songcontest winner from Sweden)and many more like "Cool James&Black Teacher,CHARIZMA"
Are your Hardrocking days over ??? Or is there any chance that we will hear your Guitar again ?Well..I just donīt have the time to play any Hardrock right now. So my carrier is put on hold ..but who knows what the future will bring !!!
Any plans for a LEVITICUS Reunion ? I know that many would like to see that(myself included)No..not exactly..But iīve been talking with Hakan(Andersson) and Kjell(Andersson)about getting into the studio again ! So it might be a continue of "The Strongest Power" who knows...Letīs wait and see what will happen !
Which LEVITICS album are your favorite one ? and why ? My favorite album is "The Strongest Power"Because it has a charm and "roughness" That fits me perfectly! "Knightīs of Heaven" is also okay...but I think itīs too polished and "fluffy" for my taste "The Strongest power" sounds like the real LEVITICUS...A lot of "action" and with some Heavy Bass-synthesizerīs in the background
Can you tell us about your best memory from the LEVICTUS days
Iīve got a lot of great memories from all those wonderful years,that we played together! We were such a great team and we shared the same goals and visions! We had a lot of fun together.One of the best moments most be the first time that we played the GREENBELT festival in England(1984) We really shocked the Crew-members,when they found out that Kjell had 4 Bass-drums + all the other stuff that we had! And the audience was really ecstatic after we had played ! We became the talking subject during the whole festival that lasted for 4 days !!!Everyone that walked close to us got to sign autographs! This was our Big break ! ... And we that had traveled to England as a small,unknown band from Sweden...
XT was a really Melodic band when you started,but you became harder and harder for each album ...how come ???
Well...XT started in the Autumn of 1991 ! So I guess it was a natural development for us! The songs just became "harder & harder" It wasīnt anything that we planed to.
So...Which XT album do you like most ? and why ?
The last one that we did "Extended Empire" because itīs HEAVY !
Do you know what Sonny Larsson(XT vocalist) are doing now ? Does he still sing in King of Modern Swing ?Sonny is mostly a songwriter now ! But he plays sometimes with some of the members from King of Modern Swing...but the band is put on hold
He sang on your solo-album! But wasīnt he supposed to sing on the next LEVITICUS album too ???Yes ! But he decided to study instead
Which bands inspired you to start playing Hardrock ? And what do you listen to now ??
DEEP PURPLE and LED ZEPPELIN was my inspiration when I started to play! And I must say that old "Purple" are still my favorite band! "Made in Japan" and "Burnin/Stormbringer" with gentlemen Coverdale and Glenn Hughes....they are my fave vocalists. I donīt have that much time to enjoy and listen to any music right now,since iīm working in the studio almost 24 hours a-day.And I really wish that I could go to a good concert now&then. I haveīnt been to a show since last time Whitesnake played here and thatīs almost 2 years ago!!! Great band ! AEROSMITH is another band that I really like,great songs and a great vocalist!
A BIG Thank you ! to Bjorn
for answering our questions :-) This Interview has been translated from Swedish
to English ! So donīt blame BJORN if you think that his English is bad....itīs
all my fault!
Urban Wallström - originally published in Catchy Hooks.